Chapter 9: Supplies

An hour later we were at the city borderline, our eyes automatically looking up at the large buildings that formed one of the biggest cities in Hoenn.

"We'll go to the Pokemon Center first," I informed Dawn. "We're going to eat and then get our Pokemon examined. I want Nurse Joy to give me more information on this Bagon. He needs to be given a thorough check up since he's newly hatched. After that, we'll get supplies and get out of this bloody town."

"Do you not like this city, Paul?" Dawn questioned as we began walking on the sidewalk.

"If I can help it, I stay away from towns. They're full of people and I detest being distracted from training. I stay near them in case of emergencies most of the time, not to mention I need to restock my supplies as often as possible."

"You're so weird."

"I've heard worse." I shrugged. She laughed as if I'd made a joke and I grimaced; I hadn't wanted her to find amusement in my statement.

In seemingly no time at all, we entered the Pokemon Center, ate quickly, and approached Nurse Joy at the front desk.

"None of our Pokemon have really done anything in the past day or two," Dawn murmured to herself. "I'm keeping mine. They're all ok."

I bowed my head respectfully as I got Nurse Joy's attention and said, "I have a newly hatched Bagon here and I would appreciate it if you took a look at him. I want to make sure he's perfectly healthy."

"Sure." Nurse Joy smiled, her pink hair in symmetrical loops bobbing as she nodded.

I took Bagon's Poke Ball out and handed it to Nurse Joy, who took it back to the examination room.

Dawn placed Piplup on the floor and leaned up against the counter. I noticed that she was leaning toward me, far too close, and took a couple steps away. She didn't seem to show any indication that this bothered her and I held in a sigh of relief as a minute of pure silence passed between us.

"How are you going to start training Bagon?" Dawn asked.

"I need to first learn what moves he knows. If he knows any at all." I made a sour face, blaming Dawn instantly if this Bagon turned out to be a waste of time. "Dragon Pokemon can learn a very large amount of different types of moves and I want him to learn as many as possible."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

"What'd you expect? For a fairy to wave its magic wand and Bagon to evolve?"

"No, I was about to compliment you on your ability to plan things out and get things done, but I guess you don't want it." Dawn crossed her arms.

"I don't need a compliment. Compliments don't help people or Pokemon get better."

"If you care about the person or Pokemon they really do," Dawn muttered.

Nurse Joy came back out of the room, holding Bagon's Poke Ball. "All done! This Bagon is perfectly fine. Take good care of him."

"I will." I bowed my head again, then walked away, Dawn straggling behind me.

We walked to the Poke Mart through the camping section where Dawn decided to buy a small grill, cooking pot, and cooking utensils as well as a refrigeration pack that apparently was solar powered and kept things cold without electricity.

"Even if it doesn't work, I can still get Buneary to use Ice Beam and freeze whatever's inside." Dawn beamed. "It'll be great for storing food!"

"Wonderful," I replied dryly, seeing a bump in her master plan. I decided to say nothing and watch her learn on her own.

With that, we headed to the grocery store and bought as much food as we could carry. Dawn, once done paying for her food and exiting the store with me, packed the frozen food in her new mobile freezer pack and told Buneary to use Ice Beam to keep the food cold.

Buneary did its unnecessary twirling dance as it used Ice Beam, the food freezing over in mere seconds.

"Wow, this is heavy." Dawn tried to pick the bag off the floor, not succeeding.

"Ice is heavy, nitwit. I thought you would have realized that."

"Well..."

I shook my head and got two Poke Balls out. "Electivire, use Brick Break to break the ice. Leave the food unharmed. Weavile, stand by."

Electivire and Weavile came into view with a blinding flash of light. Electivire's armed glowed white as he slammed it down onto the block of ice, denting it. A few blows later, the ice broke, falling out of the bag.

"Keep going. Get as much ice off as possible," I instructed. "Weavile, you help out too."

Electivire's Brick Break attacks became gentler to keep from crushing the food and Weavile took his own pile and used Metal Claw in the same fashion. Soon, the food was encased by only a thin layer of ice.

I nodded in approval of their work and returned them to their Poke Balls.

Dawn returned the food to her bag and picked it up with a lot less strain. "Wow, it's a lot lighter."

"That's what happens when something weighs less."

Dawn ignored my malice. "Thanks for the help, Paul, I owe you one."

"One what?" I chided.

"Um, I don't know?" She shrugged. "It's just an expression."

"Well, stop using them if you don't mean it. And be specific so you don't get my hopes up on you repaying me grandly by leaving me alone." I began walking, following the now familiar sidewalk of Rustboro.

"Why are you so upset? We made a good team!" Dawn hurried after me.

"Yeah. You screwed up and I fixed it. I've never dreamed of a better duo."

She punched my shoulder pretty hard. "And at Meteor Falls when you hurt your arm that would be you screwing up and me fixing it, right?"

"My mistake wasn't caused by lack of a brain," I snapped.

"And my mistake wasn't caused by lack of maturity!" Dawn retorted.

"Well, seeing as you lack both a brain and maturity means you screw up much more often than I do."

By now we were stopped in the middle of the street, yelling at each other. People had stopped to watch, open mouthed. I glared at them before beginning to walk as quickly as I could away from the scene Dawn had brought upon us. It was no one's business, I thought angrily, and increased my pace to get out of the city faster.

"Wait up!" Dawn screamed at me.

"Arceus, Dawn, GO AWAY!"

"No!"

"Fine. If you go through hell with me, it's not my fault. I never agreed to be nice. If you want someone nice to hang out with, go hang out with Lenny or Ash." I turned the corner.

"His name's Kenny and I don't want to travel with him!" Dawn's feet hurried after me.

"Whatever. Your boyfriend means nothing to me." I felt my hands clench into fists at my side.

"I don't have a boyfriend," Dawn replied testily.

"Which amazes me, honestly. You're so dependent on people that I'm surprised you don't ask me to read you a bedtime story and check your tent for monsters at night."

"Hey! I'm not five, I don't need to be tucked in!"

"So you say."

Dawn went a minute with silent fury pouring off of her. "I'm still not leaving."

"Because you're an idiot. I know."

"You're not forcing me away."

"I can tell."

"Will you just act like a decent human being for one minute and stop yelling!?" Dawn shouted. Thankfully, we'd reached the forest so no one could hear her.

"I've tried being decent and kindhearted. You're just looking at the result."

She flinched and stared at me sadly. I continued walking.

"What do you mean?" She finally asked quietly.

Of course she had to ask. I swore in my head. "It's none of your business."

My eyes narrowed as we trudged through the trees. I was tired. Tired of her, tired of arguing, tired of the headache that refused to leave me during her presence.

After two hours, which Dawn remained absolutely silent, I stopped. She almost ran into me.

"This is good enough. Set up camp. Deal with your own stuff and I'll deal with mine." I threw my bag on the ground, looking down at my feet, hands in my pockets.

Dawn walked by me, placing a hand on my shoulder gently for a second before moving away, unpacking her own things. I remained stiff, decided not to argue about the action, and began sorting through my things, wondering what her gesture had meant.